Looking Back Day 63 Photographing Magnificent Frigatebirds
People are often sceptical about whether the Galapagos is really all that. Or maybe they just aren't able to comprehend just how unconcerned the wildlife is with our presence. Or that you really can just walk right up to them.
But, yeah. It is all that. And you can just walk right up. You don't need a bazooka lens to photograph the birds and other wildlife. You don't have to hurry. Just take your time. They aren't going anywhere.
What's stopping you from being a fool and messing it all up? Well trained guides who love their islands. The guy in the foreground? He was our guide. He made sure we stayed to the designated walkways, didn't walk in sensitive areas (like turtle nests on beaches), stayed behind the out-of-bounds markers. Even made sure we didn't use flash or reflectors which can disturb the wildlife.
All while doing these things, our guide provided a literally non-stop oration on Galapagos history, wildlife behaviour, traits, markings, characteristics, threats to survival, you name it this guy knew it - human history, physical geography, botany, flora and fauna, land and sea. Absolutely amazing information and he just kept going and going. For 10 days, non-stop information. We didn't need a guide book, or wikipedia, nada.
So, this image is here to show you. Yes. Galapagos is all that. Can you count all the frigatebirds there? 5 or 6 right in front of us. Another 6 in the shrubs to our right and the image doesn't really show it, but on this day there were hundreds of frigatebirds flying about overhead. Mesmerising.
Oh and a nice white lava beach.
Paradise. In fact, our guide would wake us all up each morning over the ship's intercom with a softly spoken "Good morning everybody. Enjoy another day in paradise known as the Galapagos Islands". Truly.